Simple Treasures

Create for CARDS spotlight ...

2012-02-02T17:37:00.001-05:00

Wow ... a big shabby thank you to Paige for sharing my card designed for the 6+ hearts card challenge last week at the Cards Blog!!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

The Kraft Journal #56!

2012-02-01T06:00:00.001-05:00

Today I'm excited to share a project with you I designed for this week's Kraft Journal challenge #56 - 'So Romantic'!

Today, I have a tutorial up to show us all how to make a romantic, Victorian tussey mussey!

This makes an adorable little gift set paired with a matching card!

Please visit The Kraft Journal for instructions and a complete materials list!

Thanks so much for peeking in today ... have a wonderful stampy day!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

JustRite Friday Inspiration #65 - For the Love of ...

Card of the Week at Sugar Creek Hollow!

2012-01-31T17:00:00.000-05:00

A big THANK YOU to the girlies over at Sugar Creek Hollow for choosing my card as card of the week for last week's 'Girly' challenge!!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

The Shabby Tea Room #99!

2012-01-30T00:00:00.003-05:00

Welcome to The Shabby Tea Room #99 - 'Love is in the Air'! This week's challenge is inspired by this adorable photo ...

... and the challenge is to USE THE COLORS IN THE PHOTO TO CREATE A VALENTINE'S CARD AND INCLUDE A MAIL OR POSTAGE ELEMENT!

I decided to create a double-sided heart shaped gift card pocket! I die cut a scalloped heart using a Spellbinders die and then die cut a coordinating smaller heart on vanilla cardstock. I stamped the smaller heart using the Shabby Music Background image from JustRite. Next I stamped the medallion image with red on pink cardstock using the Your Special Day Medallion Labels set and then stamped the sentiment inside the circle using kraft ink.

Next, in my true shabby fashion, I added some bling!! A snipett of vintage lace trim, a pretty glittered blossom, a glittered chipboard heart, a beautiful jewel, some red trinket pins, tinsel and a couple of rosettes, pearls and rhinestones!!

I created a pocket for the back of the heart so I could insert a gift card! I used the and Greetings From Paris and Always & Forever Medallion Labels sets to create a pretty little postcard pocket!

Please be sure to visit the other Shabby Girls' blog for lots more pretty inspiration:

Charlene Cundy - Expresstions of Me!

Cindy Holshouser - Sweet P Paperie

Fran Westmoreland - Purple Peanut's Crafty Blog

Melissa Bove - Creating From the Heart

Sheri Holt - My Sheri Cards

And then I hope you'll have time this week to play along with our 'Love is in the Air' challenge for your chance to earn a FABULOUS prize from our generous sponsor, JustRite Stamps!!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this project:

The Kraft Journal - so romantic

Create for CARDS - 6+ hearts

JUGS #121 - 3-D project or template in Valentine's Day theme

Stamptacular Sunday #149 - diamonds or pearls

JustRite Friday Inspiration #65 - For the Love of ...
Mojo Monday #226 - sketch

Simon Says ... Anything Goes!

2012-01-25T03:00:00.001-05:00

Hello sweet bloggity friends and welcome to the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog #144 - 'Anything Goes'! I have one final card to share with you created for Simon Says Stamp as their January Guest Designer ... my how time flies when you're having fun!

For this week's card I used some fab Crafty Secrets goodies available from the Simon Says Stamp Superstore -- the Grand Greetings acrylic stamp set along with some pretty papers from the Creating With Vintage Patterns CD.

I cut the scalloped circle and circle shapes using Spellbinders Nestabilities Dies. The tiny little tag was die cut using a tag die from Papertrey Ink. The paper cone was created from a snipett of yellow damask patterned paper and filled with a scrap of dress maker's tissue and pretty blooms from Prima.

I hope you'll have time to give the Simon Says Stamp challenge a try this week for your chance to win the $50 prize! Big hugs and thanks to Lorraine and all the Simon Says Stamp teamies for inviting me to Guest Design with them this month ... I had so much fun!!

Challenges for this card:

Card Patterns #149 - sketch

Moxie Fab World - The Die Cutting Challenge

Sugar Creek Hollow - go girly

CR84FN #46 - light pink, yellow, neutral

Thanks for peeking in today!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

The Kraft Journal #55!

2012-01-23T06:00:00.008-05:00

Hello all and welcome to this week's challenge at The Kraft Journal! The #55 challenge is called 'Tie it Up' and this week we're looking for projects with some sort of tied around or tied on element ... and don't forget to use some kraft cardstock or any item from The Kraft Outlet Shop!!

For my 'Tie it Up' project today, I started off by embossing a piece of Lunch Bag Kraft Cardstock and inked the edges. I then cut a piece of Buff Ivory Cardstock for the base of my card. Next I used a decorative edge die to create a fancy edge on a piece of Yellow Library Card, trimmed the bottom and adhered it to the embossed piece. I wrapped a bit of Blue Baker's Twine around the embossed piece and then adhered this to the cardstock base. A sentiment was stamped on a Small Kraft Shipping Tag and then I tied a snipett of Red Baker's Twine around the top of the tag and adhered to the card base.

A pretty nosegay was created using some blue and cream seam binding from the Victoria Seam Binding pack. The tag was inked,embellished and finished off with a Pewter Stick Pin.

The Truffle Box was decorated in a coordinating theme using more Blue Seam Binding, Red Baker's Twine and another Pewter Stick Pin -- all available from The Kraft Outlet Shop.

Please stop by The Kraft Journal to check out the awesome inspiration from the other teamies and then I hope you'll have time this week to give our 'Tie it Up' challenge a try ... this was a FUN one!!!

Thank you so much for visiting with me today ... have a wonderful stampy day!!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this project:

CASE Study #74 - Jen Rzasa inspiration card
Moxie Fab World - The Die Cutting Challenge

The Shabby Tea Room #98!

2012-01-23T00:00:00.001-05:00

Hello all and welcome to The Shabby Tea Room #98! This week's challenge is called 'Sparkly and Bright' and is hosted by me. I've chosen this yummy photo as inspiration ...

... and I ask that you create a card or project inspired by the above photo and USE WHITE OR CREAM, SILVER and A SPLASH OF PINK!

Digi Doodle Shop is the Tea Room sponsor this week and I got to design with their Antique Stove image! I printed it on Vintage Cream cardstock, cut it out and then colored the pots and flowers with pastel chalks.

The stamped sentiment, die cut tag and text print paper is all from My Favorite Things, pink patterned papers and pearl flourishes are from Prima.

Please be sure to visit the other Shabby Girls' blogs for more inspiration and then hop on over to the Tea Room to give this week's 'Sparkly & Bright' challenge a try!!!

Charlene Cundy - Expresstions of Me!
Cindy Holshouser - Sweet P Paperie

Fran Westmoreland - Purple Peanut's Crafty Blog

Melissa Bove - Creating From the Heart

Sheri Holt - My Sheri Cards

Thanks so much for visiting today ... have a wonderful stampy day!!

Hugs!

xoxoxox

Challenges for this card:

My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club #55 - sketch

Sugar Hollow Creek - girly
Stamptacular Sunday #148 - spots

The Ribbon Reel #20!

2012-01-22T19:00:00.002-05:00

Hello sweets and welcome to The Ribbon Reel challenge #20!! This week's challenge is called 'New Year - New Start' and we are asked to create a card or project using RIBBON, LACE, TWINE and a BUTTON along with a NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION!

I began this card using some pretty patterned papers from Crate ... I love the calendar paper! My New Year's Resolution is to help my BFF in getting her Cupcake and Cake Business off the ground the beginning of this year! Her cupcakes and cakes are the BEST I've ever tasted and she plans to begin by offering an on-line order and ship service ... how cool is that??!!

I used some {delicious} ribbons, lace and baker's twine from The Ribbon Reel Shop including: 25mm Toffee Satin, 25mm May Arts Lace & Velvet in pink and ivory and Baker's Twine in orange.

Please be sure to stop by The Ribbon Reel challenge blog to check out the inspiration from the other teamies too!! Then, I hope you'll have time to give our 'New Year - New Start' challenge a try this week!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

Mojo Monday #224 - sketch

Sugar Hollow Creek - girly

A new release giveaway at The Scrapcake ...

2012-01-21T09:38:00.000-05:00

Karola and The Scrapcake girlies are starting the new year with a couple of brand new ... gorgeous paper lines! I'm drooling over the new collections and cannot wait to order and receive some of these beautiful papers to create layouts with!!

Karola is so very generous that she is giving away some papers from each new release! Be sure to visit The Scrapcake blog for all the details!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

A Waltzingmouse {Sweet} Recap ...

2012-01-20T09:16:00.000-05:00

Hello sweeties and welcome to my blog today!! TGIF .. right??!!?? I love Friday's -- the official start to the lovely weekend!

I'm so excited to share a bit of {sweet} news with you all! Claire from Waltzingmouse Stamps hosted her first Blog Party of 2012 this past Tuesday ... the theme was 'Sweet Treats'! I couldn't help but play along! I knew right away that I wanted to create a Tea Party ensemble ... I adore hosting and attending tea parties!!

I pulled out all my yummy Melissa Frances papers along with a couple templates and stamp sets from Waltzingmouse Stamps and set to work!

I'm delighted that everyone enjoyed peeking at my sweet little set and I can't thank Claire enough for spotlighting my project in the top three today on her blog - WOW!!! What an honor!!

I hope you all have a wonderful day ... I hope you get some stampy time in today too!!!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

It's a Tea Party ...

2012-01-18T17:29:00.000-05:00

So today was the day ... the much anticipated Tea Party for my BFF's birthday!! I got up early this morning and baked and prepped ... the table was set, the gift was purchased, the card was made! All this party needed was the birthday girl :)

We enjoyed the most wonderful afternoon together -- chatting, laughing, catching up! It was just what we both needed to 'recharge our batteries'!!

My friend, Susan, owns her own cupcake and cake business, so it was a natural decision for me to give her a copy of the The Cupcake Diaries by the Kallinis Sisters ... Sophie and Katherine, owners of DC Cupcakes! It is both Susan and my dream to travel to Washington this summer and visit DC Cupcakes live and have our own tea party with some yummy, fresh, hand baked cupcakes made by the sisters!!

I baked a batch of french vanilla cupcakes and frosted them with whipped buttercream frosting and then sprinkled the tops of the cakes with Cinnamon Sprinkles and pink edible sugar glitter ... I didn't snap a picture of the cupcakes decorated before I put them into the little cupcake box, but believe me -- they were super cute and yummy looking!! The cupcake box is the new Hey Cupcake template from My Time Made Easy -- LOVE it!!

Susan and I have enjoyed many the hours together getting inky and stampy, so I also gifted her a one-year subscription to Paper Crafts Magazine for some fun inspiration!!

Our first course consisted of cucumber finger sandwiches on whole wheat bread that I cut out with adorable tea pot cookie cutters! We also feasted on Quiche Lorraine (Swiss cheese & bacon) and Quiche Florentine (Swiss cheese and spinach) petite quiches!

The second course consisted of Cranberry Orange Scones with Devonshire Cream and Champagne Jelly - yum!!

The final course ... the yummiest ... was the dessert course! We enjoyed Double Chocolate Spirals, Mini Cheesecake Tortes with Raspberry Jam, Lemon Button Tea Cookies and Cinnamon Cookie Straws!

All in all ... a FABULOUS day! One that I've been looking forward to for days on end! It's not that often that I just stop and do something so over the top fun like this! I can't get the smile off my face ... I adore hosting and attending tea parties, so today was a blast!

And, if it couldn't get any better ... we're heading out to dinner in a bit with the hubby's -- a continuation of the birthday celebration!

Today was a GOOD DAY! I hope you had a fabulous day too -- no matter where you are and what you did!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Simon Says ... Let's Get Sketchy!

2012-01-18T03:00:00.039-05:00

Hello sweet bloggity friends and welcome to the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog #143 - 'Let's Get Sketchy'! I have another card to share with you created for Simon Says Stamp as their January Guest Designer ... I turned this week's sketch on it's side!!!

For this week's card I used some fab Crafty Secrets goodies available from the Simon Says Stamp Superstore -- Little Blessings Creative Scraps, Mini Frames and Grand Greetings acrylic stamp sets along with some pretty papers from the Creating With Vintage Patterns CD.

The beautiful ticking stripe twill tape is from The Ribbon Reel Shop!

This card is going off to a favorite little toddler of mine to thank her for her sweet generosity over the holidays (and her mama's sweet generosity too!!!).

I hope you'll have time to give the Simon Says Stamp challenge a try this week for your chance to win the $50 prize! Thanks for peeking in today. Please come back and visit me here next Wednesday where I'll have one last card to share for the next challenge in January!!

Until then, happy stamping!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

The Pink Elephant #131 - favorite colors

Stamptacular Sunday #147 - texture

Moxie Fab World - the die cutting challenge

It's a Birthday Party in the Tea Room ...

2012-01-18T00:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to you ... Happy Birthday to you ... Happy Birthday dear Melissa and Fran! Happy Birthday to you BOTH!

A couple of the Shabby Girls are celebrating birthdays this week, so we got together in the Tea Room and decided to throw them a little party!!

We have a link tool opened up over at the Tea Room in case you want to join in on the fun and share some sweet birthday cards and creations with a few of your favorite Shabby Girls!!!

I adore how this 'big WISH' card turned out ... the background 'paper' is actually blue polka dotted DUCK TAPE I had laying around in my 'everything drawer' in the kitchen! The colors matched perfectly with the colors of the glittered chipboard alphas I found in my treasure baskets ... LOVE!!!

Please hop on over to the Tea Room to share some birthday fun with the Shabby Girls and I hope you'll have time to make them a card also!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

Ribbon Carousel Challenge #36 - sketch

Moxie Fab World - tools around the house (duck tape!)

Moxie Fab World - the die cutting challenge (tickets)

Stamptacular Sunday #147 - texture

{Sweet} Things!

2012-01-17T00:00:00.005-05:00

Hello sweet friends and welcome to my bloggity blog today!! I hope you've enjoyed a perfectly wonderful stampy day today :)

As many of you know, I love all things 'tea' related ... tea parties, tea drinking, tea magazines, tea cups & saucer collecting ... swoon! So, when I saw the current challenge over at the Waltzingmouse Makes Blog, I knew I had to make a little something to submit for the Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog Party!!

My BFF's birthday was this past Sunday, so I decided to make a sweet little tea set in honor of the occasion! She has been out of town at the beach, so when she gets back this week, I'm treating her to a real tea party to help her continue to celebrate her big day!!!

I downloaded and printed the A Nice Cup of Tea template from the WMS site and assembled it using some fun patterned papers from Melissa Frances, a gorgeous bloom from The Ribbon Reel, some bits and bobs of treasures from my baskets and snipetts of Vintage Winter White and Baby Pink Berry seam binding from my Etsy Shop! I used the Afternoon Tea and Afternoon Tea Sentiments stamp sets to create the tea tag, tied onto the cup with a bit of baker's twine.

Then I downloaded and printed the A Piece of Cake template from the WMS site and assembled the slice as well as decorating it to match the sweet little tea cup!!

The tag was stamped using an image from the Afternoon Tea set and then I adhered it to the top of a trinket pin.

I used more coordinating patterned papers and the same tea stamp sets from WMS to create a matching card as the invitation for this fun little birthday tea party!!

The addition of a few more bits and bobs of seam binding, flowers, glittered chipboard leaves, pearls, rouched satin ribbon and die cut shapes complete this whimsical and fun card!

I had so much fun creating this adorable little gift set ... I sure hope you enjoyed peeking at it today! I'd love to hear your comments on how you think it turned out!

Hugs!!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this gift set project:

Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog Party - Sweet Things

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenges #152 - anything but a card

Moxie Fab World - The Die Cutting Challenge

The Pink Elephant #131 - favorite colors

Stamptacular Sunday #147 - texture

Simon Says Stamp - spots and/or stripes

The Kraft Journal #54!

2012-01-16T06:00:00.004-05:00

Hello sweet bloggity friends and welcome to The Kraft Journal #54 - 'Stamp It Pretty'! This week we want to see your creations using stamping as your main design element ... oh, and don't forget to use some Kraft cardstock or any item from the Kraft Outlet Shop!!

I chose a birthday theme for the design of today's 'Stamp It Pretty' card! First I stamped the adorable cupcake image and sentiment onto a piece of Buff Ivory Cardstock, cut it out and then backed that image onto a piece of black cardstock. I glittered the cherry with some red tinsel glitter and adhered the image to the base of the card.

Next I wrapped a piece of Black Twill Tying Tape around the card base and then over wrapped the twill tape with some Red Baker's Twine. A couple of pretty Garnet Stick Pins were added to the sweet nosegay and the entire card base was adhered to a piece of Lunch Bag Kraft Cardstock.

The vintage image is a file from Made by Janet, the Vintage Winter White seam binding is from my Etsy Shop.

Be sure to pop on over to The Kraft Journal to check out the amazing inspiration from some of the other teamies and then I hope you'll have time this week to play along with our 'Stamp It Pretty' challenge!

Thanks so much for visiting with me today ... have a wonderful day!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

Stamptacular Sunday #147 - texture

The Pink Elephant #131 - favorite colors

Simon Says Stamp - spots and/or stripes

The Shabby Tea Room #97!

2012-01-16T00:00:00.002-05:00

Hello all and welcome to The Shabby Tea Room #97 - 'Gorgeous Gateaux'! Fran is our fabby host this week and she has chosen this lovely picture for inspiration ...

... and Fran asks that we create a card or project USING GRAY (or silver), LILAC, PEACH & PINK PLUS LACE AND A METAL EMBELLISHMENT! How fun!!!

Bugaboo Stamps is the sponsor for this week's Tea Room challenge! I was inspired by the stacked cakes and flowers from the inspiration photo, so I chose to design with Wedding Rose Bouquet and Wedding Presents digital stamps! My lace element is the paper doilie -- which is my silver element too!

Lots of bling on this pretty little card ... my metal embellishments are the silver trinket pins and rhinestones. The lovely sentiment is from the Birthday Wishes set available at Inspired by Stamping. The beautiful patterned paper is from Kaisercraft!

Please be sure to visit the other Shabby Girls' blogs for lots of pretty inspiration:

And then we sure hope you'll have time to play along with this week's 'Gorgeous Gateaux' challenge!!

Thank you for stopping by today ... I love to hear all your wonderful comments!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenges #151 - photo inspiration
The Pink Elephant #131 - favorite colors
Stamptacular Sunday #147 - texture

Cupcake Inspirations -- top five!

2012-01-15T09:24:00.000-05:00

Hello sweeties and happy Sunday!! Just popping in with a bit of 'sweet' news ...

... this cupcake birthday set I designed for the My Time Made Easy January launch earned a top five spot at Cupcake Inspirations for last week's inspiration photo challenge!!

Thanks so much to the cupcake sweeties!

Hugs!
xoxoxox

Inspired by Stamping -- Official Release Party!!

2012-01-14T05:01:00.004-05:00

Hello sweet friends and welcome to the January Official Release Party for Inspired by Stamping!!! My dear friend, Joanna, has created an amazing bunch of new stamp sets for us all to design with for her latest release and I was lucky enough to get to design with the Sweet Sentiments stamp set ... {swoon}!!!

Simply gorgeous, right??!!??

So, today I'm honored to share the final card I designed for this month's launch ... this one is actually my favorite out of the six I created!! I simply adore the pretty color palette, love the stamped sentiment on the pretty paper doilie and how fun is that sweet little paper ruffle, the melon baker's twine and the tiny little polka dotted butterfly ... LOVE!!! The seam binding is Vintage Winter White and Strawberry Shortcake from my Etsy Shop.

And that's how I feel about all of you ... you ALL are so lovely to visit my blog each day! I appreciate your kind comments more than words can say ... I simply love this fabulous blogging community we all share!!

Please be sure to take a moment to visit the other teamie's blogs for lots more beautiful inspiration:

Thanks again for spending the past three days with me and allowing me to share a little bit of what I love to do with YOU! I'm already looking forward to the Inspired by Stamping February release and new stamp sets ... whooo hoooo!!!

Hugs to you all!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

The Shabby Tea Room #96 - inspiration photo & sewing item
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenges #151 - photo inspiration

The Kraft Journal #53 - favorite color combo

Cupcake Inspirations #142 - photo inspiration

Simon Says Stamp - spots & stripes

Moxie Fab World - The Die Cutting Challenge

The Pink Elephant #130 - hearts

Pixie Dust Paperie - Valentine's Day

Release Day at Inspired by Stamping!!!

2012-01-14T05:00:00.004-05:00

Hello sweeties and welcome to the JANUARY RELEASE PARTY at Inspired by Stamping!!!

I'm tickled pink to finally introduce you all to the amazing Sweet Sentiments stamp set:

I've had so much fun creating cards with this lovely set ... one of my favorites for sure!!!

I simply adore how this fun card turned out ... I love hot pink with pumpkin paired together - yum! The addition of soft pink and gray is an unexpected surprise ... they all work together seamlessly!!

I have one more card to share with you today for our official release party, but before that, please be sure to pop on over and check out the inspiration from the other teamies:

I'd love for you to scroll ahead and check out my 6th and final card designed for this January release and then I look forward {always} to hearing your sweet comments ... they mean so much to me!!!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

colourQ #119 - pink, pumpkin, gray, melon, white
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenges #151 - photo inspiration

Simon Says Stamp - spots & stripes

Cupcake Inspirations #142 - photo inspiration

Pixie Dust Paperie - Valentine's Day

The Pink Elephant - hearts

Moxie Fab World - The Die Cutting Challenge

Stamptacular Sunday #146 - sketch

Inspired by Stamping -- another peek!

2012-01-13T05:01:00.002-05:00

Hello friends! I have another little card to share with you all today that I created using the {new} Sweet Sentiments stamp set available tomorrow at Inspired by Stamping!

I'm in LOVE with this amazing sentiment stamp set ... so many lovely sayings, so versatile and wonderful. Wouldn't this make a great Valentine's Day card ... or how about an anniversary card???

You'll want to visit the other teamie's blogs to check out their awesome inspiration too:

And then be sure to come back for another visit tomorrow ... for the BIG JANUARY RELEASE PARTY!

Thanks so much for spending some time here with me today!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

The Shabby Tea Room #96 - inspiration photo & sewing item

City Crafter Challenge Blog #91 - back to black

Moxie Fab World - The Die Cutting Challenge

The Pink Elephant #130 - hearts

Pixie Dust Paperie - Valentine's Day

Inspired by Stamping sneak peeks -- day two!!

2012-01-13T05:00:00.002-05:00

Hello sweet bloggity friends and welcome to the second day of sneak peeks for the January Inspired by Stamping release!!

Today I have a sweet little card to share that I created using the {new} Sweet Sentiments stamp set!

Isn't that sentiment the cutest thing ever! I adore the soft palette of pinks, blues and neutrals against the pop of hot pink in the seam binding bow ... it's Strawberry Shortcake from my Etsy Shop!

Please be sure to check out the inspiration from the other teamie's:

Lots of goodness from all of these amazing ladies!!!

I have one more card to share with you all today before our BIG release party tomorrow!

Thanks for popping in today ... I LOVE to hear your comments!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

CPS #250 - sketch

Moxie Fab World - The Die Cutting Challenge

The Pink Elephant #130 - hearts

Pixie Dust Paperie - Valentine's Day

Inspired by Stamping -- more peeks!

2012-01-12T05:01:00.001-05:00

Hello all and welcome to my second post today with a sample 'peek-a-boo' card for the January Inspired by Stamping release!!

I stamped the sentiment image onto a kraft tag using the {new} Sweet Sentiments stamp set! I adore how the sentiment plays off the 'sheet music' patterned paper!! Simple and sweet ... I could make 100 of these cute little cards!

I think I might tuck this little cutie patootie into my hubby's suitcase the next time he travels on business ... just so he remembers what is waiting for him back at home!!!

Please be sure to stop on by the other teamie's blogs for lots more beautiful inspiration ...

And then pop on back in tomorrow ... I'll have a couple more cards to share for January's sneak peek all leading up to our big release party day on Saturday!

Until then, happy stamping my friends!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

Moxie Fab World - The Die Cutting Challenge

Really Reasonable Ribbons #39 - sparkle & ribbon

Simon Says Stamp & Show - 'red' letter day

Pixie Dust Paperie - Valentine's Day

Inspired by Stamping sneak peeks -- day one!

2012-01-12T05:00:00.009-05:00

Hello sweet friends and welcome to the first day of peeks for the January Launch at Inspired by Stamping! My great friend, Joanna, has created a bunch of new and amazing stamps and I can't wait to share a couple of cards that I created using some of the goodies from her shop!

I got to choose the {new} Sweet Sentiments stamp set for this month's designs and I couldn't love the beautiful sentiments contained in this set anymore! They are so gorgeous, inspiring and heartfelt -- perfect for creating all your Valentine's Day cards and gifts!!

I first stamped an image from the Beautiful Ovals set onto white cardstock with turquoise ink. Then I stamped a sentiment from the Sweet Sentiments stamp set inside the oval in pixie pink! I used a couple of Spellbinders dies to die cut the oval shapes and then finished the image off by adding teeny, tiny pearls all around the centers of the oval flourish images -- LOVE!! The pretty patterned papers are from Girl's Paperie and the yummy turquoise bloomers are from Webster's Pages.

I just adore the way this bright and cheery card turned out ... great bits and pops of color to make someone special smile :)

Please be sure to check out all the amazing inspiration from the rest of the teamies:

I have another card to share today for January's release ... and I'll be back again tomorrow with a few more cards to share too! Please stop back by and visit with me again tomorrow ... I so LOVE to hear your sweet comments!!

Hugs!
xoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

Card Patterns #147 - sketch

Cupcake Inspirations #142 - photo inspiration

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenges #151 - photo inspiration

Really Reasonable Ribbons #39 - sparkle & ribbon

Moxie Fab World - The Die Cutting Challenge

Pixie Dust Paperie - Valentine's Day
Simon Says Stamp - spots & stripes

{Sweet} Things ... peek!

2012-01-11T19:55:00.000-05:00

Hello sweeties and welcome to my blog today! It was a yucky, rainy day here today, so I was more than happy to stay in, stay in my pj's and do a bit of what I love ... paper crafting!!

The Waltzingmouse Makes Blog will be hosting their monthly Blog Party on the 17th, and the theme this month will be sweet treats! I started working on a little something to submit for that today, but in the meantime, I have a little card that I designed using the WMS Afternoon Tea and Afternoon Tea Sentiments stamp sets ... enjoy peeking!

Thanks for peeking in today!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #79 - sketch

Really Reasonable Ribbons #39 - sparkle & ribbons

Simon Says Stamp - spots and/or polka dots

Simon Says ... Spots and Stripes!

2012-01-11T03:00:00.003-05:00

Hello sweet bloggity friends and welcome to the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog #142 - 'Spots and Stripes'! I have another card to share with you created for Simon Says Stamp as their January Guest Designer!!!

For this week's card I used some fab Crafty Secrets goodies available from the Simon Says Stamp Superstore -- Bonjour Merci acrylic stamp set and Love Mail Creative Scraps.

I included lots and bits and bobs of shabby love on this card -- Mint Green Tea and Pink Bubblegum shabby vintage seam binding from my Etsy Shop, my favorite Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder from Stampin' Up!, a snipett of white lace trim with pink beads, a tiny spool with pink baker's twine wound around it, sewing pins, papers from Etsy, shaped dies and glitter ... LOVE!!

Until then, happy stamping!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

Challenges for this card:
Mojo Monday #223 - sketch
Moxie Fab World - Die Cutting Challenge
The Shabby Tea Room #96 - Vintage Boudoir
The Kraft Journal #53 - favorite colors
Really Reasonable Ribbons #39 - sparkle & ribbons
The Ribbon Reel #19 - pink & polka dots
The Pink Elephant #130 - hearts
Pixie Dust Paperie - Valentine's Day
Sweet Stamps #49 - hearts

New Etsy Listings in the Shop!

2012-01-10T11:29:00.001-05:00

Hello sweeties ... I hope you're having a wonderful stampy day!

I just wanted to pop in quickly this morning to let you know I just listed a couple new gift sets to my Etsy Shop! Have fun peeking!!

I also have renewed all inventories of my Shabby Seam Binding in 15 yummy colors!

As always, if there is anything you see on my blog that you are interested in, please feel free to contact me and I'd be happy to sell you that item or make you a new one if possible!

Thanks so much for all your sweet comments!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

The Kraft Journal #53!

2012-01-09T06:00:00.002-05:00

Hello peeps and welcome to The Kraft Journal #53 - 'Your Favorite Color Combo'!

Well, it won't come as much of a surprise that my favorite color combo is pink, green and white or cream! My alternate fav is pink, aqua and white or cream. The patterned paper I used for today's inspiration card can look either green or aqua ... depending on the lighting. I made a sweet treat card that is a gift too ... the cute little pocket on the front of the card holds a slide-out tag with a chocolate hazelnut tea bag!!

I used Buff Ivory Cardstock for the base of my card and to stamp the pink tea cup and green tag onto. A bit of glitter was added to the stamped flowers to make them pop! I added some pink and green patterned papers to a piece of Lunch Bag Kraft Cardstock and adhered to the base of the card. A pretty, lacey border was die cut from more Lunch Bag Kraft Cardstock and adhered to the card front. The tea tag was attached to the tea cup using some Brown Baker's Twine. To finish off the design, I added a pretty scrunched bow made from Victoria Seam Binding and topped it off with a couple of Antique Stick Pins.

The pull-out tag was made by adhering a a Small Kraft Shipping Tag onto a larger manila tag and then I stapled a tea bag to the tag set. A snipett of pink Victoria Seam Binding was added for the pull. The sentiment was stamped onto a x-small Grungy Prim Tag and then tied onto the tea bag tag with some Brown Baker's Twine. This set is a thank you card and gift all in one {sweet} package!

Please be sure to stop by The Kraft Journal to check out the other teamie's projects this week and then I hope you'll give our 'Favorite Color Combo' a try!!

Thanks for peeking in today!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

Really Reasonable Ribbons #39 - sparkle & ribbons

Simon Says Stamp - new something

Tuesday Throwdown #79 - shiny new year

My Time Made Easy -- A Year in Review!

2012-01-09T00:01:00.003-05:00

Edited: Added to my Etsy Shop!

Hello sweeties! Today the Design Team and I are wrapping up the January Release by showcasing some fab projects created using some of our favorite templates from the My Time Made Easy Shop -- and using some new and old goodies too!

One of my favorite templates is Cover-Alls!

When this template was first released, I designed a sweet treat in a gingerbread theme to give to my mother-in-law for Christmas ... she loved it! This time I decided to create with a snowy theme using lots of cute snowflakes on the patterned paper from the Flakes and Fuzzies Set 3 of 3 Collection and a pretty little snow lady to match! I adhered a pretty bit of vintage lace around the mid-section of the apron that I found at a recent antiquing shopping trip and then topped that off with a pretty blue satin sash and bow!

I filled the inside of this adorable template with fixins to make SMORES -- a hot chocolate package in a Smores flavor, a couple of graham crackers packaged in a little glassine bag. I folded a pretty little white paper doilie over the glassine bag, wrapped some blue & white baker's twine around the bag and then tied on a tag, button and jingle bell. The tag was stamped with a sentiment from the Grap a Cup Sentiments acrylic stamp set. To finish off the Smores Gift Set, I added a personal size package of mini marshmallows and a couple of Lindt Chocolates wrapped with snowman foils!

For the matching card, I created a vintage-inspired little snow lady! I adorned her head with a hat made from a vintage bloomer and some glittered leaves. Her scarf was made from a couple of twists of baker's twine and a few silver jingle bells. Her arms are chocolate trinket pins and her buttons are heart shaped brads.

I gave her a sweet little skirt made from a paper doilie and some blue rouched satin ribbon - attached to the snow lady with some machine zig-zag stitching. The sentiment was stamped using the Grab a Cup Sentiments set again and then I layered the tag on top of a couple of heart shaped cardstock layers topped off with another button and a glittered heart!

Isn't she the sweetest ... I adore her vintage hat -- perfect for a day out and about doing what this snow lady loves ... shopping!!!

To finish off this cute little set, I cut a bunch of lengths of white paper towel to create crinkle paper to stuff inside the Cover-Alls template for filler! I love creating my own crinkle filler using paper towels ... great for the environment and cost effective too!

And here's one final picture with some of the homemade crinkle filler ... outside the template and pictured with the snow lady card, it could almost be mistaken for snow! This set is the perfect give to give to someone you know with a winter birthday or ... because of the hearts, would be a sweet treat for Valentine's Day too!!

Please be sure to visit the other teamie's blogs to check out their Year in Review inspiration:

My Time Made Easy Design Team:

Lauren Meader (owner)

And don't forget to pop on over to the MTME DESIGNER'S GALLERY for lots of creative ideas!

Thanks so much for letting me share my projects for the January Release at MTME with you! I'll be getting busy working on the February goodies soon, so be sure to come back and visit at the end of the month to see all the new things!

Until then, happy stamping my friends!

Hugs!
xoxoxoxo

Challenges for this project:

Sugar Hollow Creek - save some trees/vintage
Moxie Fab World - die cutting challenge

The Color Room #92 - his room palette

Paper Crafts Connection - winter inspired

Pixie Dust Paperie - Valentine's Day
The Pink Elephant #130 - hearts
Simon Says Stamp - new something

The Shabby Tea Room #96!

2012-01-09T00:00:00.002-05:00

Hello sweet friends and happy Monday to you all!

Today I'm excited to share a card that I created for The Shabby Tea Room #96 - 'Vintage Boudoir'.

Isn't this inspiration photo so beautiful! Cindy is our shabby fabby host this week and she is asking us all the create a card or project inspired by the COLORS from the above photo AND INCLUDE ONE SEWING ITEM.

I love to sew ... don't have time for my scrappy little quilts anymore -- {sigh} maybe someday soon! Until then, I LOVE to include sewing embellishments on my paper crafted treasures ... and I usually include some machine stitching on each project too! This card is no exception ... I included some pins, machine zig-zag stitching, buttons, lace trim, a chipboard dress form and seam binding -- all iconic sewing embellishments!

This week's Tea Room sponsor is Tiffany Doodles and I was lucky enough to design my card this week using the gorgeous Christmas Postcard image. I love how I was able to adapt the image to suit a non-holiday design ... I covered the Christmas tree in the bottom left corner of the post card with a flower, seam binding, tag, pins, doilie and dress form nosegay!! I adore how the sweet little stamp image that came with this digital set has snowflakes on it ... perfect for a January card!!

The patterned papers, tag, crepe paper and pearls are from Melissa Frances. The stamped sentiments are from Papertrey Ink. The Rose Beige Glitter seam binding is from my Etsy Shop.

Please be sure to stop by the Tea Room to check out the inspiration from the other Shabby Girls:

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit with me today!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

Simon Says Stamp - new something

The Kraft Journal #53 - favorite colors

The Ribbon Reel #19!

2012-01-08T19:00:00.002-05:00

Hello sweeties and welcome! I'm excited to share my project for The Ribbon Reel #19 - 'Polka Dots and Pink' today with you all!

Two of my very favorite things to craft with - yum!

I started my card design off by adding a length of 50mm Guipure White Lace from The Ribbon Reel Shop. I almost hated to continue on with the sketch design from Mojo that I was following because I hated to cover any little bit of this amazingly beautiful lace -- it's stunning! Next I added a white doilie from Martha Stewart followed by a length of 38mm Pink & White Striped Grosgrain. I adhered a snipett of 12mm Guipure White Lace Drops trim to the top of the grosgrain ribbon for some pop!

Next added is a sweet, glittered chipboard tag to which I added some hot pink glittered alphas and a bit of 10mm Small Check Baby Gingham in Pink & White. To complete this oh-so-sweet-in-pink card, I cut out a dress form from some more Prima patterned paper, embossed it with a polka dot embossing folder and then added a hot pink velvet bloom tied on with some Cotton Candy Pink Baker's Twine ... LOVE!!

This is the perfect little Valentine Card to give to someone sweet - don't you think??!!??

Please be sure to pop on over to The Ribbon Reel Blog to visit the other teamie's blogs and check out their awesome inspiration ... and then I hope you'll give this week's Polka Dots and Pink Challenge a try!

Thanks for stopping by today -- have a wonderful stampy day!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

Mojo Monday #222 - sketch

Pixie Dust Paperie - Valentine's Day

Really Reasonable Ribbons #39 - sparkle & ribbons

Simon Says Stamp - new something

Simon Says Stamp & Show - something old, something new

Tuesday Throwdown #79 - shiny new year

Cupcake Inspirations #142 - photo inspiration

My Time Made Easy January Release Party - Something Sweet!

2012-01-08T00:00:00.013-05:00

Hello friends!! Today the My Time Made Easy teamies and I have a whole bunch of {sweet treat} projects to share with you all! Sit back, relax and ENJOY :)

Introducing ... HEY CUPCAKE!

Two of my all-time favorite things are tea parties and CUPCAKES!! The Hey Cupcake template is a perfectly wonderful box that will hold two {sweet} cupcakes when assembled -- just too FUN!! This template is a breeze to assemble as the bottom is a simple box, but then the magic happens when you cut out the top with it's adorable peek-a-boo windows and the cupcake insert that slides inside to hold the yummy cargo in place!

I whipped up a batch of butter pecan cupcakes with cream cheese frosting to include inside my Hey Cupcake box and then sprinkled them generously with some yummy pink cupcake sugar! The pink polka dotted paper is from the Darling Dots collection and I used it to cut the decorative layer that fits right on top of the template box top. I added a row of white pom-pom trim and then tied my box closed with some 5/8" wide grosgrain ribbon ... and then adhered a pretty hot pink bloom to finish it off!

See how perfectly the cupcakes sit inside the box when opened ... LOVE it!!!

I decided to make this an oh-so-pretty in pink birthday set, so I designed a matching card for the gift! I stamped onto a label cut out using the Occasional Label cut file with one of the label images from the Occasional Labels acrylic stamp set in Melon Mambo and then added the sentiment using the Sentimental Occasions acrylic stamp set in Green Galore.

The addition of a couple of glittered hearts, a paper doilie, a hot pink bloom with white leaves and a bit more grosgrain ribbon and Darling Dots polka dotted paper complete the design!

And there you have it ... a sweet treat gift set suitable for any gift-giving occasion. Perfect for birthdays, Valentine's Day, teacher and administrative assistant's gifts, anniversaries, thank yous ... and so much more!

Be sure to visit all the other teamie's blogs to check out their {sweet treat} projects today:

My Time Made Easy Design Team:

Lauren Meader (owner)

And don't forget to visit the MTME DESIGNER'S GALLERY where you'll find tons of inspiration to spark your creativity for your next paper crafted project!

Be sure to check back in with me tomorrow where I'll be showcasing my January 'Year in Review' project!

Until then, happy stamping my {sweet} friends!!

Hugs!
xoxoxo

Challenges for this project:

JUGS #118 - sketch (turned sideways)
Cupcake Inspirations #142 - photo inspiration

Fussy and Fancy #53 - happy birthday

Simon Says Stamp & Show - something old, something new

Really Reasonable Ribbons #39 - sparkle & ribbons

Tuesday Throwdown #79 - shiny new year

Simon Says Stamp - new 'something'

Let the January My Time Made Easy Peeks Begin!

2012-01-07T00:00:00.004-05:00

Edited: Added to my Etsy Shop!

Wow ... it's hard to believe that I'm beginning my second year as a designer for the awesome My Time Made Easy company! I adore designing for Lauren and love all the teamies ... it's really a 'dream job' and I'm a very lucky lady!

Okay, enough gushy-ness ... and onto some peeks! Are you ready ... let's GO!

Introducing ... Sweet Treat Tote!

This adorable template couldn't be any easier to assemble ... it's a box bottom to hold your treats with a decorative sleeve/carrier over the top! I chose to make mine a 'date night' gift set and filled the bottom of my treat box with Snickerdoodle cookies and Ghirardelli Hot Chocolate mixes! Now that's a 'date' I'd LOVE to make!!!

This template ALSO has two alternate box bottoms -- one holds lollipops and one holds larger items like hand lotions or bags of coffee!

I couldn't resist using a couple of the new patterned papers from the {new} Minty Chocolate Collection! Aren't those colorful dots and hearts just adorable??!!?? With Valentine's Day about a month away, I thought I'd that this opportunity to whip up a couple of sweet treat gifts to give to my friends!

And there you have it ... a sweet treat suitable for all your upcoming gift giving needs ... perfect for those of you who love to make homemade gifts to give to loved ones. Wouldn't this be sweet filled with homemade jam? How about homemade cookies or mini muffins? The possibilities are endless ... and oh so FUN!

Be sure to pop on over to these teamies' blog to check out their sneak peek inspiration today:

My Time Made Easy Design Team:

Lauren Meader (owner)

Kathryn Berthiaume

Debbie Marcinkiewicz

Monique Hansen

And then hop on over to the MTME DESIGNER'S GALLERY to check out lots more creative cuteness from the rest of the teamies too!

Thanks for peeking in today. Come on back tomorrow where I'll have another fun sneak peek for you in preparation for the big Release Party on Monday! Until then, happy stamping my friends!

Hugs!
xoxoxo

Challenges for this project:

Simon Says Stamp & Show - something old, something new

Really Reasonable Ribbons #39 - sparkle and ribbon

The Kraft Journal #52 - anything

Simon Says Stamp -something new

Top Tip Tuesday #67 - anything
Pixie Dust January Challenge - Valentine's Day/hearts

Beyond the Page with Hummingbird ...

2012-01-05T23:10:00.000-05:00

Hello friends! I have a project to share with you today that I recently created for Kaisercraft using their new Hummingbird Collection ...

I gave this sweet little picket fenced garden picture holder to the lovely mama of this precious little girl! I hope she found a good spot to display it in her daughter's room so they can enjoy little snipetts of pictures throughout the year!

Please be sure to pop on over to the Kaisercraft Blog to view the complete materials list for this project!

Thanks for peeking in today!

Hugs!

xoxoxox

Create for CARDS spotlight ...

2012-01-05T16:01:00.000-05:00

A very Happy New Year to all!

A special thank you to Paige over at the Create for CARDS Blog for spotlighting my New Year's themed card for last week's challenge!

Here's wishing everyone a very safe, healthy and happy 2012!!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Something different at Melissa Frances ...

2012-01-05T08:55:00.000-05:00

Good morning sweet girls and welcome! How is your first week of the new year going so far? Mine is slowing down each day - thankfully! I was so ready to get back into a more normal pace of life after the hectic month of December. I love the holidays, but they sure are busy and exhausting!

I am over the moon excited to tell you that a sweet project I created a while back is being shared today on the wonderful Melissa Frances Blog! Those of you who follow my blog know that I love creating with the girlie, romantic and beautiful products created by Melissa Frances, so this particular project holds a very special place of honor in my bedroom on the dresser so it's one of the very first things I see each day when I wake up!!

The lampshade was created using the Fresh Popped template available from My Time Made Easy ... after assembling the template, I turned it upside down to decorate and then hung it over a lamp base that holds a tea light candle. Because the paper lampshade sits directly on top of the base where the candle would go, this application is for decoration purposes only and is not a working candle light.

I cut out a sweet bird using the A Little Birdie cut file from MTME and added a Melissa Frances chipboard glittered wing ... LOVE!!!

The tag from Melissa Frances was stamped using the gorgeous Monograms Defined stamp set available from MTME! This set is one of my all-time favorites ... I adore it!

Patterned papers, pearls, tag, pink satin flower, crystal tear drops, resin key and chipboard wing all from Melissa Frances.

Vintage Winter White shabby seam binding from my Etsy Shop.

A complete materials list is available over at the Melissa Frances Blog in case you want to give this lovely little lampshade a try ... it was so much fun to create and super easy using the template from MTME and all the gorgeous pretties from Melissa Frances!

I'd love for you to pop on over to the company blog and check out the post featuring my project! Melissa and the team love hearing your comments about their wonderful products, so while you're there, it would be so nice for you to leave a comment for them about my lampshade ... they adore feedback about their goodies and the projects that they feature on the blog too!

Thank you so much for spending a bit of your time today with me ... I so appreciate all your sweet comments along the way. I know I had a great time sharing inspiration with you in 2011 and look forward to many more creative days together with you all in 2012!

Happy everything today!!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

... warm friendships

2012-01-04T13:15:00.002-05:00

I have another fun and sweet card to share with you all today that my girlies and I made a couple weeks ago during our December paper crafting girls' night out!!

This card uses the 'stair-step' technique to create the base of the card, and then we embellished it with lots of cute embossed snowflakes, birdies, a sweet snowman, a wintery tree ... and LOTS of sparkly glitter!!!

This is a perfect card to send to someone in the new year ... wishing them well and letting them know how much you value their friendship. I think I need to make a couple more of these cutie-patooties!!

I love that you stopped by my little 'ol blog today ... I hope you're having a great day!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

Really Reasonable Ribbons #39 - sparkle with ribbon

Simon Says Stamp - 'new' beginnings

Winter Inspiration ...

2012-01-04T13:09:00.000-05:00

Hi ya'll! Happy Wednesday :)

With the holidays almost behind us, I am ready to move onto January ... and January to me is all about snowmen and snowflakes! I love them ... the paper ones ... NOT the real ones! I spent the first 31 years of my life living in upstate NY where we know ALL ABOUT snow! For the past 16 years I've lived in the southern part of the country and I don't miss the real snow whatsoever!

So, my friends and I got together in December and we made this adorable, winter theme snowman shaker card! The shaker part is filled with teeny tiny micro beads and white chunky glitter - LOVE!!!

We added a pocket on the back side of the ornament/tag and created a gift card holder -- suitable for all your winter gift giving needs!

I made one in holiday colors too and will save for next year's gift list!

I'm so happy you popped in for a visit with me today! Have a wonderful day!!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

Really Reasonable Ribbons #39 - sparkle with ribbon (silver cording)

The Kraft Journal #52!

2012-01-04T06:00:00.004-05:00

Hello all and welcome to my very first official post as a Designer for The Kraft Journal!! I am tickled pink to be creating among such talented designers!! The Week #52 challenge is 'Anything Goes' -- so fun!!

Today, over on The Kraft Journal Blog, I have a tutorial to show everyone how to make a pretty paper ruffle out of patterned paper! These paper ruffles are wildly popular right now in blog land and very easy to create.

Stamped sentiment is from the Heartfelt Gratitude set available at Inspired by Stamping.

I used some of my new supplies from The Kraft Outlet, including some Buff Ivory Cardstock for the base of my card, inked with a bit of green paint to create a time worn look. Then two different patterned papers were added to the cardstock base for contrast. Next, layer a strip of double sided tape along the seam of the two patterned papers and create your paper ruffle.

I added a bit of lace trim and pearls along with come yummy Brown Kraft Baker's Twine at the center of the card. A pink fabric bloom was adhered to the left side of the card and then two Antique Stick Pins were inserted under the top of the bloom. The ' big hugs' sentiment was stamped on a x-small Grungy Prim Tag. To complete this pretty little design, I added a bit of Victoria Seam Binding -- the create the shabby little bow.

The cardbase was added to a backing of Lunch Box Kraft Cardstock ... and there you have it, a pretty little card with lots of bits and bobs of treasures, all wrapped up with a darling paper ruffle and bow! The perfect way to show someone you care for just how thankful you are to have them in your life!

Thank so much for peeking at my inaugural Design Team project for The Kraft Journal today! Be sure to pop on over to The Kraft Journal Blog to check out my paper ruffle tutorial and then I'd love for you to leave me a comment while there letting me know what you think!!! I'm looking forward to many weeks in 2012 designing with all the lovely goodies available at The Kraft Outlet Shop!

Big hugs to you all!!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

Simon Says Stamp & Show - something old, something new

Top Tip Tuesday #67 - anything

Simon Says Stamp - something 'new'

Some FUN news from Simon Says Stamp!

2012-01-04T03:00:00.011-05:00

Hello sweet bloggity friends and welcome!! I'm tickled pink to share my fun news with you all ... Lorraine and the teamies have invited me to join them over at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog as their January Guest Designer!!! My stampy friend, Melissa Bove, is on the Simon Says Stamp Design Team and had a hand in securing this invite for me, so THANK YOU, Melis!

Over the course of the month, I'll be sharing four cards I've designed that coordinate with the weekly challenges available at Simon Says Stamp. This week, the #141 challenge is 'New Beginnings' and the Design Teamies were asked to create something with a Cuttlebug embossing folder!

I need to make a couple thank you cards for several gifts we received over the holidays, so now that January is here I couldn't resist pulling this sweet snowman themed folder out of my stash and cranking him through my Big Shot machine! Isn't he adorable!!!

I inked the edges of the kraft cardstock with a bit of cream paint to give him a chilly and time-worn look! Then I machine stitched a snipett of snowman ribbon onto the base of the card. I embossed and cut out a cute package with snowflakes on it and then decorated the top of the package with felt mittens, a thank you tag stamped from a new set I just got from PTI and then tied onto the package with baker's twine and adorned with teeny tiny silver jingle bells! To finish my design, I added a couple of blingy silver rhinestones, a silver paper doilie and a smidge of glitter on his 'carrot' nose! Super cute, don't you think??!!

What a great way to start off the new year ... sending handmade cards to those you'd like to show how appreciative you are to have them in your life! This one is heading down south to Florida to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house!!

Until then, happy stamping!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

JUGS #117 - felt

Really Reasonable Ribbons #39 - sparkle & ribbon

Stamptacular Sunday #145 - doilies

Simon Says Stamp & Show - something old, something new

The Kraft Journal #52 - anything goes

Card Positioning Systems #249 - sketch (turned sideways)

Tuesday Throwdown #79 - 'shiny' new year

Top Tip Tuesday #67 - anything

Oh-so-sweet ... L'il Primrose!

2012-01-03T16:19:00.001-05:00

Hello friends! I'm popping in quickly this afternoon to share a card with you that I recently designed for Kaisercraft using their new L'il Primrose Collection ... super sweet!!

The adorable little dolls in this collection remind me of my childhood ... I collected Holly Hobbie dolls and my bedroom was decorated with them!

I sent this card to a stampy friend of mine who recently had surgery to help cheer her up!

Please be sure to pop on over to the Kaisercraft Blog to view the complete materials list for this card!

We're hosting a dinner party this evening with several close friends in attendance ... still in full celebration mode here for the holidays! I'll need a vacation next week from all the holiday merriment ... but I do so enjoy it all! My only regret is that the holiday season seems to go by much too quickly each year :(

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Dreaming of Spring ...

2012-01-03T11:22:00.002-05:00

Yikes ... we're in the middle of a cold snap for a couple days -- daytime temps in the 40's, nighttime temps in the 20's/30's ... burrrrr! I'm dreaming of spring and summer already!! This weekend is supposed to get back up into the 60's, so until then I dream of warmer weather!

Because I'm in a springy mode, I decided to warm things up in my scrap room and create a sweet, floral LO full of flowers, glitter, pearls and BLING!

I used some new papers and tags from the Spring Awakening Collection available at The Scrapcake!

The gorgeous, wide, white lace trim is available at The Ribbon Reel Shop.

I added glitter to the pink butterfly and pink frame cut from Spellbinders dies to up the BLING factor ... so pretty IRL!

Thanks for peeking in today! Stay warm and have a wonderful stampy day!!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this layout:

Flourishes Bringing Back Beauty - BLING!

Paper Issues - we've got your NUMBER

City Crafter Challenge Blog #90 - save the date

Tuesday Throwdown #79 - SHINY new year

Sketch time at Kaisercraft ...

2012-01-02T11:45:00.000-05:00

Hello sweeties and welcome to another Saturday Sketch challenge at Kaisercraft!!

I designed this oh-so-sweet layout for a dear friend of mine using the {new} L'il Primrose Collection!

Please be sure to visit the Kaisercraft Blog for a complete materials list for this LO, to see the inspiration from the other teamies and to check out this week's sketch challenge!!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

The Kraft Journal ... DEBUT!!

2012-01-02T09:58:00.000-05:00

Hello sweeties and welcome! I hope you all had a fabulous holiday season and are ready to get back into the swing of things here in blogland!!

I'm super excited to be a part of the official Design Team over at The Kraft Journal and have a little sneak peek of the very first card I created for this team to share with you today using some amazing goodies available from The Kraft Outlet Shop ...

... stop back here on Wednesday when I'll be sharing the entire card with you all along with a fun tutorial on how I made the sweet and oh-so-pretty in pink paper ruffle!

Until then, I hope you have time to hop on over to The Kraft Journal and give this week's challenge - 'Anything Goes' a try!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

The Shabby Tea Room #95!

2012-01-02T00:00:00.001-05:00

Hello sweet friends and welcome to the very first challenge of the New Year at The Shabby Tea Room! This week's challenge #95 is hosted by Sheri and she has chosen the theme of 'Time Flies' along with this lovely photo for inspiration ...

... and Sheri asks that we create a card or project inspired by the above photo and USE SOMETHING WITH WINGS!

The sponsor in the Tea Room this week is Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps and I have designed my card using the Sammy da Snowman image -- so cute!! I printed the image, colored it in, cut it out and then added glitter for the bling factor!! I included two adorable, tiny green butterflies flittering around this sweet little winter man!

The sweet sentiment was stamped using the Winter Wonderland and Birthday Wishes stamp sets from Inspired by Stamping - I just received these two new sets in the mail and couldn't wait to ink them up! The pretty blue snowflake paper is 12 Days of Snow Flakes from My Time Made Easy. The pretty Pear Pizazz rouched ribbon is new from SU!

And there you have it ... a sweet winter card suitable to sending to anyone on your 'winter card giving list'! Such a fun card to create ... I adore this cheery color palette!!

Please be sure to stop by the other Shabby Girls' individual blogs to check out their creations this week:

And then the Shabby Girls and I hope you'll have time this week to play along with our 'Time Flies' challenge!

Thanks so much for peeking ... have a wonderful stampy day!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

City Crafter Challenge Blog #89 - make the cut

Top Tip Tuesday #66 - anything goes

Stamptacular Sunday #145 - doilies

Simon Says Stamp - anything goes

Really Reasonable Ribbons #39 - sparkle & ribbon

Simon Says Stamp & Show - something old, something new

White and Cream LOVE with Melissa Frances ...

2011-12-29T00:00:00.004-05:00

I am very pleased to share with you all that this sweet card I made using lots of Melissa Frances goodness was featured on the company blog today ...

This card was super fun to design!! I'd love for you to take a peek at the Melissa Frances post and leave me a comment over there letting me know what you think of this white and cream creation!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

The Shabby Tea Room #94!

2011-12-26T00:00:00.003-05:00

Hello sweet friends and welcome to The Shabby Tea Room #94! This week, Melissa is our creative host, and she has chosen the theme of 'A Colorful and Shabby New Year' for our challenge along with this festive photo for inspiration ...

... and Melissa asks that we create a card or project inspired by the above photo and USE PINK OR RED, BLUE, YELLOW and GREEN!

My husband treated me to this lovely tea set for two a couple weekends ago when we visited Wilmington! We had a tea party (yes, my husband went to a Tea Room with me!!!) and at the end, he told me to pick out a set that I liked! He knows I simply adore anything 'tea' related and love to host and attend tea parties, so this was a very thoughtful lunch that he treated me to ... and the tea set was the icing on the cake :)

So, I used this pretty little set as the spring board for my inspiration this week! My in-laws arrive tomorrow for their annual holiday visit with us and will be staying through the 1st. I thought it would be so much fun to host a 'real' tea party for my mother-in-law on New Year's Day when all the guys go golfing, so my project this week included a couple of cute tea pot and cup place markers that I can personalize with our names ...

... these both were made using templates and papers found on the {new} Creating With Vintage Illustrations CD available from Crafty Secrets! The tag toppers were made with a couple of Creative Scraps from the Altered Fairies and Wonderland Tea sets.

I'll be sure to take pics of the table when all set for the tea party and share here on the bloggity blog with you! I love peppermint tea ... especially during the holidays! The little pink wrapped peppermint candy is from Martha Stewart, pink & white flower from The Ribbon Reel, tags stamped with the Tea For Two set from My Time Made Easy, Pink Bubblegum and Vintage Winter White shabby vintage seam binding from my Etsy Shop.

My mother-in-law is a HUGE tea drinker ... so I decided to take this little ensemble a step further and create a sweet little gift box to hold some tea bags that she could take home with her after our tea party!!

This adorable house is another template found on the {new} Creating With Vintage Illustrations CD from Crafty Secrets ... super simple to assemble, and then I embellished mine with some snipetts of vintage trim, lace, buttons, pearls and glitter!

I wish the glitter showed up better in the pics ... I glittered all the flowers on all four sides of the house!

And there you have it ... my sweet treat gift for my sweet mother-in-law! I think she'll enjoy it, how about you???

And, if you hadn't guessed it yet, our {sweet} sponsor in the Tea Room this week is Crafty Secrets! Sandy is generously donating a copy of the {new} Creating With Vintage Illustrations CD along with a $25 gift certificate to the shop for our lucky winner this week, so you'll definitely want to play along for your chance to win!!!

Please be sure to stop by the other Shabby Girls' blogs to see what they have designed for your inspiration this week:

... I cannot wait to see what you'll create for our color challenge this week!

Thanks for peeking in today!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

Challenges for this project:

Really Reasonable Ribbons #38 - anything and ribbon

PALS Paper Arts #125 - tag you're it!

The Ribbon Reel #18!

2011-12-25T19:00:00.001-05:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

Hello sweet friends and welcome to this extra special blog post ... I'm happy to share my project for The Ribbon Reel #18 challenge with you all on Christmas Day!!

This week our challenge is called 'Happy New Year' and we're asking you to make a card or project in this theme using black with cream/white and silver/gray. We all took inspiration from this lovely photo for our projects this week:

And here is my 'Happy New Year' themed card ...

The pretty sentiment is stamped using the Christmas Cheer set from Inspired by Stamping.

I used a snipett of 10mm White May Arts Stitched Grosgrain from The Ribbon Reel Shop next to the pretty crystal trinket pins on the left side of the card. A silver paper doilie anchors the base of the design and on top of that I added two layers of gorgeous, lush ribbons ... 25mm Creme Satin layered with Black Satin Pleated ribbon - stunning!!

The organza and rhinestone bloom is from my local craft shop. I made a white candy cane from chenille stems and then layered that on top of a bow made from 3mm Silver May Arts Velvet! A couple of tiny silver jingle bells, some Black Licorice baker's twine and a white felt snowflake with rhinestones for bling complete this festive New Year's card!!

Please be sure to pop on over to The Ribbon Reel Challenge Blog to check out the GORGEOUS inspiration from the teamies this week ... and then I hope you'll have a chance to play along with this fun and festive challenge!

Hugs to all!

xoxoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

Really Reasonable Ribbons #38 - anything and ribbon

Stamptacular Sunday #144 - winter photo inspiration

Create for CARDS - New Year's

City Crafter Challenge Blog #88 - winter white

Fussy and Fancy #52 - monochromatic sparkle

A Very Merry ... Magical Christmas!!!

2011-12-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

Here's wishing all of my blog friends all around the world a very Merry Christmas!

We spent the past week visiting Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida and were treated to beautiful fireworks, a stunning lighted Cindarella's Castle, magical parades ... and meeting Mickey and Minnie up close and personal ... it was truly the vacation of a lifetime!!

Each day we were treated to several performances by the Disney characters center stage on Cindarella's Castle!!

The parades were magical and FUN!! I LOVE Toy Story!!

We had beautiful weather ... 70's and sunny!!

We managed to have great seats for all of the parades and performances ... in amongst thousands of other Disney lovers!!!

No matter where you are in the world and who you're with, I hope you're spending the day surrounded by people and things you LOVE!

Merry, merry!!

Hugs!!

xoxoxoxo

Crafty Secrets Design Team Challenge - Home Decor!

2011-12-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

Hello sweet friends and welcome to my blog today! I'm super excited to share the project I created for the December Design Team Challenge at Crafty Secrets ... 'Home Decor' -- YUMMY! I adore creating home decor projects out of paper and glue, so this one was really fun for me! Warning ... I took lots of pictures of each little element I created, so grab a cuppa something warm and yummy and sit back, relax and enjoy!!

For today's home decor project, I used a combination of digital papers from:

Creating With Vintage Patterns CD

Creating With Vintage Illustrations CD

Double Sided Creative Scraps - Christmas '07

and

Christmas Mail Clear Art Stamp Set

Ready, set ... here we go!

I created a garland with tiny little hanging packages, rusty pie tins and burlap mittens ... all decorated with bits and bobs of treasures ... made with LOVE!

Mini rusty pie tins painted with cream paint and embellished with glitter leaves, paper flowers, bloomers, baker's twine, jingle bells and vintage holiday creative scraps!

I sewed two little burlap mittens together and left an opening at the top so I could fill with goodies! I added pom-pom trim, glittered berries and leaves, buttons, twine, jingle bells and a vintage holiday creative scrap ticket!

I purchased tiny little boxes from the craft store and then wrapped them with papers from the CD's! So darling in real life!! I added pretty polka dotted ribbon, a large paper bloom and a kraft tag inked to give it a time-worn look!

Another burlap mitten ... this one is filled with red and white chenille candy canes that I made!!

This little sweetie is a cork heart cut with a Spellbinders die then embellished with a vintage holiday creative scrap, bloom, stamped angel wings, buttons, baker's twine and jingle bells. The hanger is a green paper clip that I untwisted and hot glued to the back of the heart!

This is my favorite little goodie on the garland ... love this newsprint paper that is included on the Creating with Vintage Illustrations CD and how about that gorgeous red and white ticking ribbon - yum! I added a couple of sweet green blooms with darling red polka dots and a kraft grungie tag too!!

Another vintage mini pie tin ...

Another sweet mini burlap mitten filled with treasures ...

And another tiny little box wrapped with adorable red polka dotted paper with aqua print in the background ... LOVE!

So, there you have it! I strung my sweet, homespun garland across a bank of three windows I have in my kitchen and love to walk past it all day long and give it a little peek ... it just brings a smile to my face every time I see it!

Please be sure to visit all the other teamies' blog to check out their awesome Home Decor projects:

Heartwarming Vintage Blog

Crafty Secrets Blog

Thank so much for allowing me to share my Home Decor project with you today! I appreciate all of your amazing and sweet comments!

Happy Day!

Hugs!!

xoxoxoxo

The Shabby Tea Room #93!

2011-12-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hello sweet friends and welcome to The Shabby Tea Room #93! Char is our fabby host this week and she has chosen the theme of 'A Kraft-y Christmas' and provided this beautiful photo for inspiration ...

... and Char asks us to create a card or project inspired by the above photo and to USE RED, KRAFT, NEWSPRINT, SILVER & A STAR!

I simply adore the theme of this challenge and had SO MUCH FUN creating my card! I just kept piling it higher and higher with little bits and bobs of treasures and treats! Our Tea Room sponsor this week is Bugaboo Stamps and I got to design using their Winter Circle Sentiment - Season's Greetings image!

All the patterned papers, dies, baker's twine and cardstock are from Stampin' Up! I adore the sweet little clothes pin and jingle bells too!! Loads of my favorites in this little cutie pie!!

This card just makes me smile ... I hope the recipient will feel the same way!!

Please be sure to visit the other Shabby Girls' blogs to check out their inspiration this week:

Charlene Cundy - Expresstions of Me!
Cindy Holshouser - Sweet P Paperie

Fran Westmoreland - Purple Peanut's Crafty Blog

Melissa Bove - Creating From the Heart

Sheri Holt - My Sheri Cards

... and then I hope you'll have time to join in with all the fun of our 'A Kraft-y Christmas' challenge!!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

Create for CARDS spotlight ...

2011-12-15T10:00:00.006-05:00

WOW ... a big THANK YOU to Paige and the Creative Team at the Create for CARDS Blog for spotlighting my card for the 'holiday tree challenge'!!

Love and hugs to all!

xoxoxoxo

PALS Artist Pick of the Week ...

2011-12-14T09:38:00.000-05:00

A big thank you to the design team folks over at Pals Paper Arts for choosing my card as one of their top three picks from last week's 'Putting on the Ritz' challenge!!

This is also the card I made for the inaugural Design Team launch over at Inspired by Stamping too!!

Hugs!
xoxoxoxo

Gifts for my girlies ...

2011-12-12T16:42:00.000-05:00

I'm heading out the door shortly to teach the second to last card class for 2011 ... wow what a fast year this has been!

Before I forgot, I wanted to show you a couple of cute things I made over the weekend in between hosting a couple parties too!

This was one of the cards the girls and I made at the bunco holiday party here Sunday afternoon -- so elegant and easy!

I love my regular monthly card club girls ... we've been stamping together for 3 1/2 years each and every month of the year and always have such a great time! I whipped these little gifts up to give to them this evening as a little token of my appreciate for all the friendship and fun times we've shared together in 2011!

Off to pack the car and hit the road ... I hope you're all having a wonderful stampy day!!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

The Shabby Tea Room #92!

2011-12-12T00:00:00.003-05:00

Hello sweet friends and welcome to The Shabby Tea Room #92! I'm the host for the Tea Room challenge this week and I've chosen 'The Stockings Were Hung By the Chimney With Care' as our title with this pretty photo for inspiration ...

... and I'm asking that you create a card or project inspired by the colors in the photo and with a stocking!

Love To Stamp is the sponsor in the Tea Room this week and I've designed this card using their Every Stocking Counts digital image! I colored the image with soft pastels and added a bit of glitter for some sparkle!

The tree was cut with a die and the sentiment is stamped with a bit of distress ink with a line of pearls added for a little added bling!

Please be sure to pop on over to the other Shabby Girls' blog to check out their takes on this week's challenge:

... and then I hope you'll have time to give our fun 'The Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney With Care' challenge a try!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit today!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

Stamptacular Sunday #142 - Christmas Glitz
Create for CARDS - Christmas card with tree as focal

The Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 12!

2011-12-12T00:00:00.001-05:00

Thanks so much for spending the past twelve days with me here on the blog and touring my holiday decorations and trees! I hope you enjoyed just a peek into my little, happy world! I had fun sharing and appreciate ALL of your lovely comments!!

Today we're going to wrap up the tour by sharing a few pics of the outside of my pink painted lady Victorian home - custom built in 2005!

I made the large wreath new when we moved into this house ... the two swags hanging off of the lamps on each side are old, old ... probably 16 years old and transferred from our last house to this house -- just changed the bows!

We have a wrap-around porch on 3 sides of our home, so I have several doors going to the outside to access the decks and porches ... this is another swag I made when we moved into this house ... filled with pink berries and cute little packages and fruits!

A day time picture of the wreaths on each window across the front and left side (22 windows). I only put wreaths on the front and one side of the house that can been seen from the nature walk trail. The back and other side are not decorated.

We awoke December 26, 2010 to a RARE Christmas snow that came during the night! We very rarely get snow down here in the south, so when it does make an appearance, it's magical and beautiful! We stayed home, played in the snow, drank hot chocolate and enjoyed the magnificence of it all!

View of my home from the nature walking trail.

Golf course in back of our home ... we live on the #3 green ... can you see the little yellow flag at the cup?

Golf course view of the side and back of my home.

Up close view of the wrap around porch and turret. The turret houses a portion of my family room on the first floor, including the fireplace area, and the master bathroom on the second floor.

This is a LO I designed for Kaisercraft a couple months ago using their Merry Medley Collection ... perfect to display these winter wonderland pictures of our home!

Thank you so very much for sharing this holiday tour with me again this year! I loved reading all of your beautiful comments and adored hearing about your special holiday traditions too!

I'm wishing all of my blog friends the most wonderful and magical holiday season in 2011 and a very happy New Year in 2012!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

The Ribbon Reel #17!

2011-12-11T19:00:00.002-05:00

Hello all and welcome to The Ribbon Reel #17 - 'Shabby Holiday Wonder'! I am the host for this week's challenge and I have chosen this gorgeous picture for inspiration ...

... and I'm asking everyone to create a card or project inspired by the above photo and USE CREAM OR WHITE, BLUE OR AQUA and SILVER!

I stamped the sentiment on a piece of cream cardstock I die cut with a Spellbinders die, inked the edges to create a time-worn look, added silver rhinestones and then adhered some rouched 15mm Sheer Ruffle Edge Blue ribbon from The Ribbon Reel Shop.

I added a ruffle of some 16mm Organic Cotton Strip Blue ribbon and then tie some Ivory Button Twine around the middle of the pretty ribbon ruffle!

To complete the card, I die cut a tree from blue glitter paper, die cut a cute little child on a sled from cream cardstock and adhered them both to the card base. I added a pretty little shabby seam binding bow and topped it off with a couple of silver jingle bells tied on with more Ivory Button Twine!

Please be sure to pop on over and visit The Ribbon Reel Challenge Blog to check out the wonderful inspiration from the teamies this week!!

Thanks for visiting with me today!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

Stamptacular Sunday #142 - Christmas Glitz

Create for CARDS - Christmas card with tree as focal

The Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 11!

2011-12-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

Today is the bunco Holiday Party I'm hosting here at my house this afternoon, so I'm on the run again!

Sharing pics today of the trees in both of my son's bedrooms ...

Brandon's tree!

Justin's tree!

Have a wonderful day!!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

Inspired by Stamping ... Official Release Party!

2011-12-10T05:00:00.000-05:00

Hello my sweet blog friends and welcome! Today I have the pleasure of sharing my third and final project designed for the Inspired by Stamping December Release!!

Today is the official Release Party, so here we go ... in all of it's full glory -- The Sky's The Limit!!

Super ca-ute ... right??!!??

For today's card, I decided to make a 'thinking of you' card that can be for any occasion! I don't know about you, but I can't keep enough of these types of cards on hand ... they are so handy to have around whenever you need to send one to a friend! I stamped the sentiment and star-y balloon using the {new in December} The Sky's The Limit stamp set!

I adore how this card turned out using neutrals with hot pink and pale pink - yum! The little fleur-de-lis image in the bottom left corner was stamped using the Birthday Wishes stamp set.

What do ya'll think ... oh so pretty in pink and sweet :)

Please be sure to visit the other teamies' blogs for lots more wonderful inspiration today ...

I thank you so very much for visiting me over the past three days and peeking at my inaugural Design Team cards designed for Inspired by Stamping! I appreciate all of your sweet comments along the way too ... you girlies are the BEST!

I can't wait to come back here in January and share the next newest additions Joanna will be adding to her shop! Until then, happy stamping my friends!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

The Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 10!

2011-12-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

Busy, busy ... BUSY here today! Tonight we're hosting the first leg of our Dinner Club's Annual Holiday Progressive Party ... we're serving the appetizer course.

I'll be making Rachel Ray's recipe for Tomato Vodka Soup - Shooters along with Cheddar Cheese Grilled Sandwich wedges ... {green} Margaritas and {red} Raspberry Mojitos ... yummy! I'll share pics in a day or so. Tomorrow I'm hosting our annual Bunco Holiday Party here at the house ... we visit, eat, have a holiday ornament exchange and then I treat the girls to a card making class - snowmen cards this year!!

So, a quick little post today showing the sweet, pink flocked table top tree I have in my design studio ...

... and an adorable little ballerina stocking I purchased this year at a craft show held in my neighborhood a couple weeks ago!!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

Inspired by Stamping ... Day Two Peeks!

2011-12-09T05:00:00.001-05:00

Hello sweeties and welcome to the Day #2 peeks for Inspired by Stamping! I have another sweet card to share today designed using the brand {new} The Sky's The Limit stamp set ... ready, set, here we go!

Today I chose to design a birthday card using lots of yummy polka dots! How adorable are those cute little dotted clouds, and I love the matching dotted hot air balloon too!

I stamped the sentiments and balloon image using the new in December The Sky's The Limit set and then I stamped one of the dotted oval images from Beautiful Ovals, cut it out with a Spellbinders oval die and then cut out a scalloped oval shape with some Pomegranate cardstock - YUM!!!

The addition of a few more bits and bobs of trinkets and treasures complete this fun and whimsical little card!!

Please be sure to visit the other teamies' blogs for lots more wonderful inspiration today ...

Susie Moore

... and then be sure to hop back here tomorrow to see the final project I'll be showcasing for the Inspired by Stamping December Launch!

Until next time, have a wonderful stampy day!!

Hugs!
xoxoxo

The Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 9!

2011-12-09T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hello sweet friends and welcome to today's holiday home tour!

Today I have a few quick little things to share ...

... a couple of shabby little' his and her' stockings hanging in our master bedroom waiting for Santa to visit our home and fill them!!!

Our 2011 family holiday card!

The hubby and I, Christmas Day 2010!

My sweet little family, Christmas Day 2010!

Heading out to my hubby's office holiday party - December 2010!

My precious little girl ... her name is Hershey and she's a nine-year-old chocolate toy poodle - she weighs 7 lbs. and LOVES to play dress up with Mama!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Dashing Through the Snow ... for Kaisercraft!

2011-12-08T23:46:00.000-05:00

Hello sweeties ... it's time to share my final design team project for Kaisercraft in December!

I picked up this 5" x 7" frame from Home Goods and knew right away I wanted to create a vintage-inspired scene using some Sweet Nothings sheet music paper, holiday images and sentiments and lots of glitter!!

I am smitten with how this project turned out!!!

The seam binding is Mint Green Tea and Vintage Winter White from my Etsy Shop.

I have this displayed on the TV cabinet in our family room so I can peek at it daily and enjoy! I think I'll leave it up through January!

Please visit the Kaisercraft Blog for lots more inspiration from the teamies using the Sweet Nothings Collection and to check out the complete materials list for my project too!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Noel from across the miles ...

2011-12-08T21:23:00.000-05:00

I love 'happy mail' ... don't you??!!?? I just had to share this amazing card I received in the mail on Tuesday from my stampy friend, Joanna!!

My jaw dropped when I saw this beautiful card on Joanna's blog a couple weeks ago ... it's so beautiful, elegant and pretty! I love all the layers and texture ... yum!!

Well, much to my surprise, when I visited my mailbox on Tuesday I received this wonderful card along with an extra sweet surprise inside ... an Inspired by Stamping stamp set I've been drooling over since I saw it launch over at the Shop! It was like Christmas morning here for me -- swoon!!! I can't wait to have some time to ink it up ... I love playing with new toys, don't you??!!??

So, before I had left for the weekend in Wilmington, Joanna and I set a time to Skype on Tuesday night since she lives oh so far away in Australia. I got all comfy on my sofa with a soft blankie and my laptop, turned on my computer and we connected! It was just SO MUCH FUN 'chatting live' with my dear, dear stampy friend! We talked and talked ... and talked ... and 3 1/2 hours later, we reluctantly decided to hang up, but already agreed that we're going to make this a once per week (at least) thing that we treat ourselves to!

We have so much in common ... it's truly the most amazing thing when you find someone in this great big world of ours that you can share so much of your life with. It was a real 'pinch me' moment when we first connected ... after having only chatted via e-mail and blog posts for the better part of the year. I think the world of this sweet gal and enjoyed every single minute of our chat session! I can't wait to do it again after the holidays ... we'll have so much to catch up on as we're both traveling for the holidays this year!!

Thanks for letting me share my happy news ... at this crazy and busy time of the year when we're running around with all the hussle and bussle of the season, it's a simple joy to reach out and connect with a friend!

I so appreciate all of you and all of the wonderful, sweet comments you've left for me on this ol' blog throughout the year!

I hope you're having a merry day!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

Beyond the Page with On The Move -- Kaisercraft!

2011-12-08T16:05:00.000-05:00

Hello friends and welcome! Today I'd like to share a sweet little beyond the page project I designed recently for Kaisercraft using their {new} On The Move Collection ... enjoy!!

I thought 'outside the box' for this project and didn't go in the direction of the typical cars, trucks or planes theme! I love it!!

Please pop on over to the Kaisercraft Blog to check out what some of the other teamies have created for your inspiration today and to view the complete materials list for this project!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

Create for CARDS spotlight ...

2011-12-08T16:01:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much to Paige and everyone who contributes to the Create for CARDS Blog for spotlighting my family Christmas card today for last week's Holiday Card Challenge!!

Some of my very closest stampy friends and I got together the Saturday before Thanksgiving to create and assemble all of our holiday cards! It was a day filled with good food, good stampy fun and great friends!

I'm happy to report that I created 50 of these sweet little cards and have popped them all in the mail ... so nice to be able to check that task off my long, long ... LONG 'to do' list this year!

Happy everything to you all!

Hugs!

xoxoxo